Railroad spike



'iA Florida,

Patented Dec. 16, 1924.

UNITED .':VIA'IESV l,5ltl,329

PATENT QFFICE.

ORB/IN B. POWELL, OF JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, ASSIGNOR TO LUCIAN B. POVELL, JR., OF FARMVILLE, VIRGINIA.

RAILROAD SPIKE.

Application filed November 24, 1922. Serial No. 602,925.

To. all whom. it may, concern.:

Be it known that Orrin B. POWELL, a citizen ofA the United States, residing at Jacksonville, in the county of Duval and State of has invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad Spikes, of which 'the following is a specification rllhe object of the invention is to provide a simple and efficient form of spike particularly adapted for use in securing railway track rails to the ties under conditions which will prevent the pulling or drawing of the same by the upward strain applied to the,

rails and therefore imposed upon the portion ofthe spike head which is arranged in overlay ypingk relation with the rail base, and w ich will at the same time resisft lateral strain due to a spreading tendency of the rails, but which inlay still be withdrawn from the ties or extracted when required or when it is necessary toy replace or repair rails or ties, by applying to the spike a strain which is different from that imposed thereon by the rail; a, further 'obj ect is to prevent breakage of the shank immediate under the head, as often occurs with the. spikes now in use. "With, these general objects in view the invention consists in aconstruction and combination of parts of which a. preferred embodiment is shown in the accompanying drawing,4 wherein:

x Fig. 1 is side view of a spike arranged in its operative position and showing in connection therewith and in section a rail and ay portion of a tie, part of which is also shown iny section, to which the rail is secured by means ofthe spike,. and also showing in connection therewith and in dotted lines the position Of a pinch bar or similar tool' applied in the position necessary to draw the spike.

Fig.V 2 is area-r view ofy the spike.

Fig. 3 is a bottoni view ot same.

The spike consists essentially of a shank 1Q ofl which the body portion is increased in width from front to rear or from inner to o-uter surface toward its lower end and which is provided at its upper end with an enlargement 11 preferably having a back or outer surface which is substantially in the plane of the corresponding surface of the body portion of ythe shank and with a front or inner surface which is obliqucly disposed to the corresponding surface of the body portion of the shank and is inclined inward ly from the angle 12 formed by the intersection of its inner or front surface with tha't of the body portion ofthe shank to provide what may for convenience be regarded as and termeda. bevel or cam shoulder forining an obtuse angle with the direction of driving progressl of the spike, said enlargement of the shank terminating in a longitudinally and transversely extended head 13, and the body portion of the shank termina-ting at its inner end with a sharp or abruptly reduced point lll. The spike shank is of substantially uniform thickness measuring from side to side or in a plane parallel with` the inner and outer or front and rear surfaces thereof and the point is formed by` bevelling two sides only, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, and at thel base of 'the point or substantially opposite the junction of the point proper with the body portion of the shank is arranged an upwardly and outwardly directed barb projecting outwardly beyond the inner or front face of the. shank'and serving as a means for positively engaging the libre or material of the tie into which the spike is driven so as 'to effectively resist any tendency to draw or upwardly displace. the spike particularly by an upward strain applied to the inwardly directed nose portion 13a of the spike, which as indicated in the drawing is designed to overhang or overlap and bear upon 'the base of the rail which is shown at 16. Obviously an upward strain upon the nose portion 13Ei of the spike head will tend to draw' the lower end of the shank inwardly and thereby emphasize the resistance which is offered by the barb`15 to any drawing or extracting movement spike.

On the other hand' the head is also extended outwardly or rearwardly to forni a shoulder 13b which in the normal position ofthe spike rests upon the surface of the tie indicated at 17, and by inserting a pinch bar or similar prying or lever constituting Itool, such as that shown for example in dotted lines at 18, beneath the shoulder 13b it is poS- sible to extract the spike from the tie by reason of the fact that an upwardand invard strain applied by such a tool to the outerporltion of the head of the spike tends the barb 15 to an extent suflicient to permit of such extraction.

o-f the obviously when the spike has been driven suiiiciently to bring the angle 12 into contact with the rail base the further driving move` ment results in an outward or rearward crowdin'g of the spike by reason oi' the contact of the cam or bevel surface of the enlargement 11 with the rail base, and depending from the upper portion of the enlargement at the outer or rear side of the spike is a second barb 19 inclined rearward toward its lower end at an inclination substantially corresponding with that of the inne-r or front face of the enlargement 11 so that as the final driving movement of the spike is conduct-ed with the cam or bevel fac-e of the enlargement in contact with the rail base the spike is moved in a direction subst-antially parallel with the length of the barb 19 until the sh Oulder formed by the rear .nose 13b of the head comes in Contact with the surface of the tie. This rearwardly and downwardly directed barb thus serves as a brace to the 'fully driven spike to resist any tendency of the spike to move outwardly due to strains, for example, those caused by the wheels of the rolling stock and which in ordinary practice result in the spreading ot the rails and the consequent derailinent oi the cars.

It will be seen that the barb 19, however, does not interfere with the drawing of the spike by the means and in the direction hereinbefore indicated for the reason that the drawing movement of the spike as described is substantially in the direct-ion of the length of said barb and is accompanied by an inward or4 Jforward movement of the upper end of the spike which, as previously indicated, serves to effect the reduction in. the resistance to withdrawal oilered by the upwardly di-rected barb with which the lower end of the shank is provided. Thus while the downwardly and rearwardly directed head barb 19 serves to resist outward strains applied to the spike or any tendency to dis placement of the spike by reason of strains applied to the inwardly extending nose` portion 13a of the spike head, just as the point barb 15 serves to resist dra-wing` or pulling strains applied to the head through the agency of the rail base engaged thereby. both of said barbs are rendered ineffective in resisting an effort to withdraw the spike when the strain is applied to the outer nose end ot the spike head under the conditions and by the means above indicated for that purpose.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new and useful is:

1. A rail spike having a. shank provided with a terminaly point having an upwardly and outwardly directed barb and ahead havwith a terminal point having an upwardly and outwardly directed barb and a headv having an outwardly extended nose for over'-,A lapping engagement with a rail base,the"

shank being increased in width towards its lower end and having an enlarged upperend with a cani face or beveled inner surface'.

2l. A rail spike having a shank provided with a terminal point having an upwardly and outwardly directed barb and a. head having' an outwardly extended nose for overlapping engagement with a rail base, the

shank being increased in width inlopposite directions from an intermediate point to-Vy ward its extremities.

5. A rail spike having a sha-nk provided: with a terminal point having an upwardlyf and outwardly directed barb and ahead having an outwardly extended nose for overlapping engagement wit-h a. rail base,tlie

shank being provided at its enlarged upper end and at its outer side with an outwardly and downwardly inclined barb.

6. A rail spike having a shank provided with a te 1mina-l point having an upwardly and outwardly directed barb and a head hav ing an outwardly extended nose for overlapping eiigaigement with a rail base, the shank being provided at its enlarged upper end and at its outer side with an outwardly and downwardly inclined barb and having the inner 'face of said enlargement disposed in an upwardly and inwardly inclined plane to the driving direction of the shank.

7. A rail spike having a shankprovided with a terminal point having an upwardly and outwardly directed barb and a head having an outwardly extended nose for overlapping engagement with a rail base` the portion of the shank adjacent to the head being enlarged to form an upwardly and inwardly inclined cam or bevel Jface and being provided at its outer side with a downwardly inclined barb. y i

In testimony whereof, ORRIN B. Powiiiini; has silgned his name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 16th day of May. 1922.

ORRIN B. PQVELL.

YVitnesses: i

Hmmm J. SCHMiDT, AUG, HocKsfrnA.

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